Sakura-jima volcano emitted a dense plume of ash over the Japanese island of Kyushu on November 23, 2013. Currently Japan’s most active volcano, Sakura-jima explodes several hundred times each year. These eruptions are usually small, but the larger eruptions can generate ash plumes that rise 3,800 meters (12,000 feet) or more above the 1,040-meter (3,410-foot) summit.

This true-color image was collected by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using Landsat data from the USGS Earth Explorer.